


The question at hand

by SkyO66



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 00:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6172579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyO66/pseuds/SkyO66
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>((This is an original tale. It doesn't really relate to any movie or book, but it is set in the medieval time period. Its not exactly a "Fanfiction", but it is a quick story. So, with that being said, I hope you like it.))<br/>When a new threat arises, the King must make a great decision that changes the kingdom. As a young girl is drafted, what will come of her in the upcoming months? Will Seraphina listen to her head and let her tail curl between her legs as she leaves her friend and lover for dead?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The question at hand

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in a land, far, far away, there was a city that consisted of three circular walls, collectively known as Alfen. Chianne was the outermost wall, then next came Alexandria, and then finally Cladial, which was the capital. The king lived in Cladial, along with his most trusted men, while the army and those in training lived in Alexandria. The outer town of Chianne housed the commoners and merchants, and it also contained the farms that provided for the rest of the cities.

The king was a wealthy and wise man, and city had been in peace ever since his reign began. The walls, being nearly 100 feet, kept any and all enemies out, nearly eliminating the need for an army.

One day, a small man rode in on a horse, both of them being in clear distress. It was the messenger of the king’s court, and it was evident that he had seen better days. His face was bashed and bruised, blood soaked through his clothes and he was covered in dirt and muck. When he arrived in front of the castle, he practically fell off of his horse just before dragging himself inside.

“My liege! I come baring horrid news!” he practically yelled as he kneeled before his king.

“Speak then, so we may know what is to come.” the man said as he sat upon his throne.

“The kingdom of Rivaille has formed an incredulous army, and they plan to raid us within five months time. They harmed and battered me for three days time, and they sent me with this as a proclamation of their strength and ill intentions. We are nearly defenceless Sir, what will we do?”

“We must form our own forces then, there is not another option. I shall call a meeting of my awaiting generals, and we will form a solution within three days time. Now begone with you.”

Just as the King had promised, they had formed a new decree within the three days, and it was to be announced in each town, so all would know of the sacrifices that are to be made to ensure the safety of the cities. The head General, Cedric Quinn, was the only one who protested the idea, but of course he was out numbered. The king knew the law would displease everyone, but he knew there was not another choice.

In each town, the masses gathered as the town Criers began to read the newest decree, General Quinn keeping to the back of the crowd, tightly holding onto both his wife and his only child, Seraphina.

The young girl had just reached the age of 18. He knew she should be married by this age, but he had yet to approve of a man worthy of her grace. She was a fair girl, little brown speckles crossed her rosey cheeks and her long yellow hair reminded him of a sunkist wheat field on an early fall day. She was clearly kin to her mother, the two being nearly identical, all except for her eyes, which were grey and cold as stone, but she quickly offered a warm smile to any and all who looked her way. She was always quiet and timid, never caring for anything other than reading and staying at home. She was startled by even the smallest of abrupt noises, and she certainly did not take well to the archery her father tried to teach her as a child.

Even now, she was clearly uneasy in the crowd of a few hundred. She was constantly glancing at her father, and she had once asked what the new law would bring, but she just received a look of sorrow mixed with a tinge of anger.

The Crier cleared his throat as his stepped onto the risen stage in front of the crowd.He presented the scroll in front of himself and began to read aloud.

“Hear ye, hear ye! The King has established a new decree, one that is meant to create a force great enough to overpower that of an even greater oncoming threat.” He paused for a moment to let the gasps and confused cries of the crowd to die down.

“The king will now require that at least one child, between the ages of thirteen to nineteen, is to be offered to his army within the next two days. If more than one wishes to join and aid our liege, they are welcome. No exceptions will be made.” The man closed the scroll and backed away from the mass as everyone began to protest and riot, though some only wept at the knowledge that they will assign a possibly grim fate to one of their beloved children.

The only two who kept their silence were Cedric and Seraphina, though her mother was hysteric. Cedric was trying to remain collected, and not act out as his mind wanted of him. Seraphine, on the other hand, was too shaken to utter a word. Her mind was filled with nothing but static, temporarily void of all the thoughts that should be flooding her mind. She didn’t know whether to cry, scream, or to run. She wanted to just disappear from the face of existence, knowing she would most likely be erased by a blade soon enough.

She knew that nothing about her was suited for this, but more so than that, she was scared out of her mind. The poor girl hadn’t a sliver of bravery inside her soul, let alone the strength of a man.

Two days had quickly passed, and on the morning she was to accept her new forced destiny, she considered every possible way out. She considered everything from running to suicide, but she always reached a dead end, and the promising solution would soon just become a rejected thought.

The sun finally rose, and along with it came the guards to collect her. Shaking, she hugged her mother for what was most likely the last time, tears soaking both of their dresses as they sobbed their goodbyes. She did not hug her father, on the other hand. No matter how many times she told herself otherwise, she couldn’t help but put him to blame for sending her away; for causing her life to be cut short. After prying from her mother’s grasp, she herself was pulled out of the home and placed in a wagon of hay and other children, all of which were clearly just as scared as her, though a few seemed to be excited, aptly ready to cause bloodshed. Some began to talk amongst each other, but saw it fit to just sit in silence as the sound of the horse’s hooves clopped against the cobblestone road that lead to their new unwelcomed life.

 

Chapter 2

Four months had passed far too slowly for Seraphina, and she was more than ready for it to be over. Though she knew the battle that was soon to come may take several more months, even years, to come to an end. The training had been incredibly difficult, and she counted each day until the end of this torture. She had grown strong in her training, even in such a short amount of time. She knew well how to wield a sword and shield, and she was even better at actual combat.

She knew well that she could fight very well, seeing as she quickly became the top member of her division, but she lacked the willpower and courage to act upon actually taking someone’s or something’s life; even if it meant losing her own.

She laid upon the ground, staring at the melody of colors that painted the sky of the setting sun. Today was to be the last day of training before they were to be sent out to the battlegrounds, and hopefully get to the warriors of Rivaille before they reached wall Chianne. Their plan was simple; head to the midway point of the two cities, and attack them before they had a chance to attack Alfen.

She heard footsteps stepping through the soft grass, and then stop just behind her.

“Well someones being lazy, aren’t they?” Narvi chuckled.

“Oh, just hush up and join me.” Seraphina replied, lightly laughing at her friend as he placed himself on the grass beside of her. He tossed something onto the ground next to her, motioning for her to take it. She looked at him quizzically before picking up the dagger.

“How did you-?”

“Don’t worry about it, just consider it a back up plan.” He said with a shrug. 

She just lightly laughed at him and placed the dagger in her boot. He was the only one she had let herself get close to when she got to the training grounds. She had made a point to not get close to anyone, but only to trust them enough to get by. Somehow, Narvi managed to weasel his way into being the exception, and eventually the two grew to be quite close. So many nights had she snuck out of her quarters just to meet him down by the creek and talk about their life before and after this chaos. So many wishful thoughts and hopes that probably wouldn’t come true no matter how much she wished and prayed, because life had always been harsh; why change now? She did adore him though, she loved his messy brown hair and crooked grin, and how even when he got into trouble, he always seemed so worry free, as if everything was going to be perfectly okay. She could only lust for that kind of peace of mind.

 

“Hey, uh, can we talk about something for a minute?”

Pulling Sera from her thoughts, she looked at him quizzically. Usually he just blurted whatever happened to be on his mind, and he had certainly never looked this nervous before talking to her. What could be one his mind?

“Of course, what’s wrong?”

“Well, I was thinking, if we make it out of this mess, would you maybe...um… want to get married?”

Married? Why would he want to marry her? She was about as helpless and ditzy as they got, let alone wife material.

“U-um, let’s just put that on hold for a while, we don’t even know what’s going to happen to us in the coming weeks, let alone when we get back.”

They sat for a while more in silence before heading back to their own quarters, neither of the two bringing up their earlier conversation again.

 

Chapter 3

The sun rose too early for Seraphinas taste, and she was practically frozen in place at the sound of the men calling for everyone to get ready to leave. Today was the day. Her time of safety was over and she was about to be thrown into her grave. She shakily got up and went outside to find that they were issuing armors and weapons to everyone. She looked at everyone as they were handed their gleaming new suits, and that the armors had slight tinges of color upon them. All of them were a dull silver, but some had trim of red, green, blue, black, or some other color. She herself filed into a long line of other people, to receive her supplies.

“Name?” a burly looking man asked her.

“Seraphina Cadence Quinn” She replied and the man just nodded, looked at a piece of paper, and handed her a beautiful set of armor, trimmed with yellow metal details.

‘Oh great, yellow for cowardice, how suitable.’ she thought to herself and continued down the line to get her weapon. Without a word a man handed her a large axe with the same yellow colored details as her armor, and as she looked at her reflection in its sharpened edge, she was frozen by just how real this suddenly got. Yes, she had trained with weapons before, but she hadn’t killed anyone before, and no one had tried to actually kill her; but now they will.

Within hours she had put on her suit, save for her helmet, and was sitting in a wagon next to Narvi on her way to God knows where. They had been traveling for what must have been several hours, and it seemed like there was no end in site. Many people had dozed off, but she was too petrified to do much more than stare aimlessly and try not to throw up from her nerves taking their toll on her body.

She knew she couldn’t do this. She simply couldn’t. She knew what she had to do, and if she was caught, the kind would have her head. She had to run. The minute no one was looking, she would sneak off and make a run for it.

She looked over to Narvi and wondered what he would do if he knew that she ran away. Would he be mad? Would he see her as the disgraceful coward she was? Of course he would, no matter how close they had become, everyone would see her as a disgrace; especially her family.

She knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t help it. She knew from the moment she was drafted that she didn’t have the courage in her do fight. She had barely scraped by in training as is, and now that she was about to be in a life or death situation didn’t help any.

“Are you okay, Sera?” Narvi said, waving his hand in front of her face.

“Wha- um, yeah, I’m fine. Just… thinking about how things are suddenly so real.” She replied shakily.

“Well, hopefully everything will turn out in our favor, and all of us can just go back home. And, hopefully you will accept my offer in marriage.” He said with that toothy grin she grew to love.

She just smiled in return and went back to daydreaming. After a few hours, Seraphina had managed to drift to sleep, laying her head atop Narvis shoulder, and his head came to a rest atop hers.

Chapter 4

A loud crash jolted the two awake, bumping into each other in the process. They were thrown to the floor as the horses rared back in fear, causing the wagon to jostle. The forest ahead was set ablaze and the horses of each of the wagons were hysteric. The coaches tried their best to calm them but it was of no use. Arrows whizzed past at incredible speeds, and the sound of metal clanking against metal was heard in the distance. Dawn was rising and the area was still dimly lit, though the fire cast a great light upon the area.

“We are under attack!” a man yelled as he tried to contain the frantic horses. Everyone quickly became frenzied in their haste to gather themselves and face the oncoming forces. It was clear that they had miscalculated their judgement on where they would meet the warriors of Rivaille, and so the ambushers became the ambushed.

“Come on, we have to go!” yelled Navri as he extended a hand to Seraphina. The two ran into the brush and hid, along with several others.Sera placed her helmet on and gripped her axe with a white knuckled clutch.

She knew this was her chance. She could slip away and run and leave all of this behind.

“I’m going to circle around to the left, you go right and we will attack at the same time. Keep low. Okay?” She nodded and slipped through the bushes, but she had no intention of attacking. She kept low to the bushes, and kept the field in site, but it was also dark enough that no one would see her easily. She was nearly to the clearing, just a few more feet and should could break for it; she could finally be free. Once there she did not think twice, she got to her feet and darted further into the trees, as fast as her feet would allow. That was until she heard a cry of misery that stopped her dead in her tracks.

‘It was nothing. Just keep going.” Her mind told her, but she knew better. She turned and ran back a few meters, hiding behind a tree. On the ground with a blade to his throat was Navri, and a man that looked to be of similar build was on top of him. The man gave Navri a wicked grin as he spoke to him. Navri shouted and shoved the man to the ground, and a fight ensued between the two; but it was apparent that the attacker was much stronger.

Seraphinas body had grown cold. She knew he needed help, but everything other than her heart was telling her to run while she could, so she wouldn’t end up like him as well. For what felt like hours, she stood in shock, mentally debating on what to do. Eventually her mind found a solution, but it was one she wasn't pleased with. Dashed back to where she began and hit in the bushes once more. ‘Don't do it, he isn't worth it!’ Her mind sang, but she knew she had to face herself and her fears.

She ran into the clearing, barring her axe with a fierce cry, and swung at the attacker, hitting him in the chest and knocking him to the ground. Adrenaline rushes through her body as she went to confront the dying man on the ground, but on closer inspection, her breath was taken from her. The man she had hit was Narvi. Blood poured from his mouth as she knelt next to him and began to weep. How could she have hit her closest friend by accident?

‘This can't be happening. What have I done?’ She thought. Narvi coughed, blood dripping down his chin.

“H-how c-could you?” He said between gasps “I- I thought you loved me.”

Seraphina began sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. She held onto his hand, trying her best to form words.

“I’m so sorry, I-I…” she trailed off. She looked back to his face as he began to chuckle. “Wha-Why are you…?” She began, but his laughter only grew. He grinned from ear to ear with a wicked smile, and she knew something was wrong.

“You stupid girl.” He said as he transformed into a black mass of muck and smoke. He lunged forward and grabbed her by the throat, pinning her to the ground. He began to laugh maniacally as he tried to suffocate her. She clawed at his grasp, trying to free herself for another breath, but his hold was too strong. She was practically numb with fear; her strength failing her when she needed it most. She looked to her side to see the real Narvi out cold on the ground. No one was near enough to save her, and she began to give up hope on her life as she started to see black spots in her vision.

And with that she gave in, letting the darkness consume her and her life fade to black. Satisfied with the lack of life he ensued upon the young girl, he turned to find his next victim. He decided that the human he began with will be the next one to feel his gasp, seeing this as a merciful act, so that the two lovers could be together again. He began to raise from her corpse, but as her did he felt a horrendous pain. He looked down to see a blade through his chest, covered in the oily blood of his body. The blade was pulled from his body and ran though him again multiple times, puncturing his heart several times over. He fell to the ground, choking up black oil onto the ground. He collapsed to the ground with a huff, turning over to see his ender.

There stood the girl of grey and yellow armor, gleaming in the rising sun. She laughed at him and plunged the dagger once more onto his fading corpse.

“So, I’m the stupid one, eh?” She chuckled as she stood from the ground, leaving the dagger in his now still chest. She left him with one last glance as she went to help Narvi.


End file.
